Android developers put their heads together to figure out how to improve the operating system, and came up with three directives. "Enchant me. Simplify my life. Make me awesome."
To put it another way, by observing what really works on the iPhone and Windows Phone operating systems, and what wasn't working on Android, Google's mobile development team made massive improvements across the board, and focused on making the experience consistent no matter where you might be in the environment. It's no longer a hodgepodge of unclear commands and clumsy screens.